About sixteen years ago, I met him for the first time. My trainwreck sibling brought home this adorable puppy he had no business adopting because he had not one thing in his life that wasn’t a mess. I was furious at my sibling – he didn’t even take care of himself, how could he drag
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February 7, 2008
It’s definitely been one of those weeks. Bills looming, wee little paychecks scrambling to keep up … you know, the usual.
Except ……
I’ve been coming down with this cold for days, with a nasty, bone-rattling cough, swollen throat and sneezes two times too big for my body.
Then…..
Every single day this week, I’ve hurt myself somehow. Two days ago, I nearly broke my hip running into the edge of Coworker’s desk coming out of the kitchen, then took out the same side again on the restroom doorknob yesterday. And, of course, the entire office is laughing at me now because I hit the door frame with my elbow going to wash my hands. I think the secretary’s going to burst something, she’s laughing so hard. I’m like a gawky 13-year-old.
And ….
Ergonomics? Nah. I can’t stop trying to sit with my legs crossed for the life of me. My physical therapist, whom I haven’t seen in three MONTHS, told me to stop doing that because it’s not good for my posture. When did I get old enough to have posture problems, by the by?? So I’m firmly planting my feet on the stepstool that keeps my feet level, otherwise they’d be dangling a foot off the ground. Firmly, with conviction. Only to find my right leg sneakily, slowly, steathily creeping back ’round to cross over the left leg. Stop! Why is it so hard to break habits??
February 5, 2008
and it’s not because he’s rich. It’s because he says that his hobby is work, and “Everyone in my family is mad at me but I tell them that if they want money, go out and earn it.“
My friend showed me the article on a gamer site a few days ago, and it still makes me chuckle.
For one thing, his family must REALLY be ticked at him. For another, it’s not like he won the lottery and chose not to accept after all. He actually earned that money through his own hard work, and just doesn’t care to take it.
This reminds me of Grigory Perelman who declined the top math prize.
I have to admire these purists for their dedication to their work, but I wonder what passes for work-life balance in their lives. Ah well, that’s the concern of non-geniuses. 🙂
February 4, 2008
| Retirement Savings |
Rollover IRA: $1,480
Roth IRA: $3,749
401(a): $2,572
403(b): $13,331
Total: $21,132
|
| Emergency Savings |
$14,819
|
| Goal Oriented Savings |
Car Maintenance: $646
Savings for taxes: $5,016
Total: $5,662
|
| Investment Loans |
Prosper-ish: $12,630
Personal Loan: $5,000
Total: $17,630
|
| Total Assets |
Non-Liquid: $21,132
Semi-Liquid: $17,630
Liquid: $20,481
Total: $59,243
|
| Debt and Liabilities |
Truck: $7,002
Total: $7,002
|
At first glance, it suddenly looks like I’ve done remarkably well since the last snapshot at the end of 2007. As usual, there are quite a few things this doesn’t show.
First, I paid off the balance transfer, and that means I’ll be losing a source of passive income that was a steady $40ish/month. Of course, with the interest rate dropping like a rock, I wasn’t assured that same return through this year. I’ll consider doing another BT this year, because it doesn’t look like I’m going to be able to post the kind of savings I’d need to put towards the real estate investment my friend and I had discussed.
Second, my spending has been well over my income for a few weeks. A few hotspots:
A) I overpaid the insurance premium in January because I still hadn’t received my revised premium statement by the billing due date. That’s an extra $300 I’m basically prepaying. It was on my credit card so I have the short grace period, but that’ll still have to come out of the checking account.
B) I forgot to reduce my retirement contributions in time for January’s paychecks. I’ve changed it for February from $500/check to $300, but I should have reduced it even more because I need the extra cash flow. And the contribution was taken out of my extra January paycheck too! Gah. I didn’t think that it would be.
C) Thanks to Ma’s accident in the sedan, it’s been out of commission for over a month. Haven’t been able to sell the truck, so another [-$400/month].
D) Best friend’s wedding last month did a doozy on the budget because I was just too stressed to clamp down as strongly on spending as usual. Eating out? Uh, sure! Buying new sunglasses? Yep! More food? Ok! Cold at night? Heater’s on! More stress eating? Let’s get another bagel sandwich!
Meantime, I’m trying to parse out how rent and all the other bills work out without tapping into the emergency fund until my supplemental income check comes in, whenever that’ll be.
February 3, 2008
Since I wasn’t returning to Vietnam this weekend, I activated my iPhone. Yeah, it’s not exactly the most logical progression of actions, but that’s what happened. I was unexpectedly the lone holdout in the office by the end of the month because my fellow resister’s Verizon coverage pooped out and she was able to cancel her plan without penalty.
Running through my head before pulling the trigger
Activation Fee: $36
Monthly Fee: $60, plus tax
Only 450 minutes per month unless I’m talking to my coworkers.
Only 200 text messages!
An additional 1300 messages would cost $10/month. Weird options.
Only 5000 night and weekend minutes! (I actually don’t need that many.)
I might have the option to extend nights and weekends by 2 hours (7pm to 7am) for an additional $9/month. Worth it?
2-year commitment to AT&T and this asset-draining plan.
I freaked out, pretty much. I just didn’t want to let go of T-Mobile and my golden, affordable, plan. I’ve already had too much change recently!! R had to hold my hand over the phone, lead me out to the ledge and tell me to jump. Repeatedly. But I finally did it, and have been acclimating to the phone ever since. Several hours later, I’m still not done inputting all the phone numbers from my old phone because there’s no easy way to transfer the numbers that I know of, and I have to organize it precisely the way I want it. Typical.
I have, however, discovered that this phone will only fuel my email addiction. Especially as I’ve set up both my personal and work emails, and figured out the server settings to make it receive AND send messages.
I haven’t figured out if I like blogging from it because I’m actually not fond of the keyboard, much, but that might mean I just need to trim my nails even shorter, as though I were a professional pianist.
The cell phone bill is going to be >$100 next month. Argh!
But I can check weather reports, maps, and email wherever I am, almost. That’s … pretty spiffy. BoyDucky tells me that I’ll learn to love it. And that’s what I’m afraid of. I’m not an early adopter of technology because I don’t want to love things that have increasingly higher associated costs to adapt to. It’s not likely that the iPhone related costs will stop at the activation and monthly fees. I’m going to need an extra travel charger because I’m a neurotic phone charger loser (not a loser in the judgmental sense, a loser in the sense of losing things), a case to protect it, and who knows what else will become essential? It’s a slippery slope, my friends.
The Wall Street Journal online subscription is now a major possibility, and I’m already ogling the Kindle and thinking, hm …. I could read ALL KINDS OF THINGS on that. Mmmm.
If I weren’t already completely impressed by the familial legacy my Grandma left behind, the early tidbits I’ve heard about her funeral so far would pretty much wrap that up.
Over a thousand people descended on her farm in a tiny village to pay their respects within a 24 hour period. Whole families from out of town came, despite the tradition of sending one or two family representatives to long distance services. My poor relatives were run ragged! I have a sneaking suspicion that even more would have come from out of the country had the funeral not been scheduled so quickly.
The near equivalent of a Bishop in the religion she observed came from the big city to deliver a eulogy and chant absolution-type prayers.
It’s good to have a little *confirmation* that a great many other people, not all her relatives, loved and respected her.
February 2, 2008
12 hours ago, I missed my grandma’s funeral. I couldn’t attend because it all happened so very fast — my family in Vietnam wanted to have everything taken care of before the Lunar New Year, and they’d been overrun by hundreds of people wanting to pay their respects day and night.
Grandma was an immensely practical woman, and I can’t help but think that this is probably what she wanted: efficient proceedings, and not to have her kids and grandkids in America to rush back to her funeral. She knew that everyone worked hard to make ends meet and that, many times, meant we couldn’t afford to go back as often as we liked to see her. I regret that. I regret the lost time and experiences and stories we could have shared if only we were geographically closer.
That’s not to say that many sacrifices weren’t made to see her. Over fifteen years ago, my parents charged thousands of dollars on credit cards to send us kids to meet our Grandpa before he passed, and again a couple more times to visit and get to know her before it was too late. It took them years to pay those bills off at a time when they were struggling to launch their business, and markedly affected the already numerous obstacles they faced as first generation immigrants. They never told her the dirty details, I didn’t know for years, but she probably knew and respected my parents for giving us time together at great personal cost.
In that light, I realize that the thousands of dollars of debt I paid for them during college was nothing compared to the memories I wouldn’t have if not for their willingness to take on debt for the important things in life. I didn’t resent doing it at the time, but now I better understand some of the factors that contributed to the debt and appreciate that they knew that there are times you forget the money and be with your family.
What they gave me, knowledge of and a relationship with my Grandma, is absolutely priceless. There will be nothing more important, nothing more honored, in my memory than the sight of her smile when she first saw her two stranger grandkids from America coming up the drive, bounding out of the car through the red mucky clay that serves for dirt to fold our arms and say Hi Grandma! in the traditional Vietnamese greeting. I can’t even remember if we hugged her, I just remember her enormous grin.
Knowing about the woman and her steel core from Dad’s stories simply pales next to meeting her, seeing her iron control over her farm even through her eighties and matriarchal influence over her family. She was a wonderful woman, and you never crossed her because she was invariably right, and never failed to point out right from wrong. There was never a doubt, in anyone’s mind, that she always did the right thing whether or not it was difficult, profitable, or less than advantageous. Right was right, and that’s all there was to it. How could I not hero-worship someone like that? Someone who you’d expect to be resented for being a woman from the early 1900s, completely unafraid to speak her mind, and devoted to seeing things done right, well, and up to her standards by everyone around her? She wasn’t dictatorial, but even the Americans and Viet Cong respected her during the war, and we know the old adage that war respects no one. From across the ocean, I had and have much to learn from my Grandma, and I’m so grateful that I got to know her.
I’ll miss her greatly.
January 31, 2008
My grandma passed away yesterday. I may or may not be rushing back to Vietnam for the funeral, if we can make it.
Hence, the lack of post.